Contemporary Issues of Sustainable Rural Development: International Approaches and Experiences of Eastern Europe and Russia: Monograph

Abstract

Growing attention is paid by economists worldwide to research and assessment of economic sustainability. The relevance of ensurance of sustainable development is explained by the necessity to provide certain conditions for sustainable development and raising of living standards by means of effective utilization of the existing resources.

The range of definitions, which describe the essence of sustainable development, are interpreted broadly, but all definitions agree that sustainable development considers a correspondence of current and future life necessities. However, the issue of sustainable rural development is even broader, since it unites the complex aggregation of economic, agricultural, environmental, infrastructural, cultural, and social aspects. Besides, it is necessary to consider the regional specifics of particular rural territories.

We believe that such complexity of issues related to ensurance of sustainable rural development should be researched through an effective combination of national and international approaches. While the national approach lets to study particular problems of rural territories within the country (or even more locally, within a region or territory), international approach provides a broader vision of those problems, gives an opportunity to study experiences of other countries and to gain the best practices from them. This monograph is a result of joint research of international team from four countries: Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Ukraine. It addresses a wide range of issues related to ensurance of sustainable rural development by means of international and national agrarian policies, liberalization of international trade, rural tourism, development of resort areas, utilization of environmental and resort potentials of Europe, CIS and Russia.

Apart from general issues of sustainable development on the international and national levels (international trade, liberalization, food security, state support of agriculture, international and state agrarian policies, etc.), the monograph presents the case studies of several regions, including Danube region and Caucasus Mineral Waters resort area. It considers perspectives of rural tourism as a driver of sustainable rural development, issues of rational nature management and utilization of environmental and resort resources in various countries, financial aspects of sustainable development and perspectives of agricultural cooperative structures in rural territories. The special consideration is given to environmental issues of sustainable rural development. The researches present their investigations of ecological sustainability within agriculture, environmental aspects of European reforms and new Common Agricultural Policies, and problems of effective preservation and increase of rational implementation of environmental, climatic, natural curative and recreational resources.

We appreciate all authors of the monograph for their high level of professionalism, invaluable contributions, manifold approaches and research methods implemented, as well as for their devotion to the problems of sustainable development. We believe that the results of the given research would impact into the ensurance of sustainable rural development in our countries, and would be beneficial to other related researches worldwide.

Keywords: sustainable development, rural territories, monograph, agrarian policies, agricultural cooperative structure

JEL Classification: N5, O13, P32, Q1